Spider-Man 4 is close to gaining a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright to pen the script. David Lindsay-Abaire, who won a Pulitzer in 2007 for his drama “Rabbit Hole,” is in final negotiations to write for Columbia.

Plot factors are zipped shut.

Scribes have always been an important factor in Spider-Man movies.  Veteran scriber, Alvin Sargent, best known for 1973′s Paper Moon and 1980′s Ordinary People, served as a writer on the second and third films. Michael Chabon, another Pulitzer winner, also worked on Spider-Man 2.

James Vanderbilt, who wrote Zodiac and X-Men: Origins of Wolverine, previously wrote a draft of Spider-Man 4.

Signing Lindsay-Abaire shows that filmmakers are intent to focus on character, something that got lost in the third installment with a rather convoluting plot. Characterization has always been the key to Spider-Man franchise success. It’s good to see it coming back.

Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are back with a good chance Kirsten Dunst is expected to return as well.